In a memorandum submitted by the NEHUSU to the Governor of Meghalaya, Shri R.S. Mooshahary the students has urged him to ensure that there is supply of electricity 24x7 in the university campus. In the memorandum the student community complained that in the dry season there is power shut down twice a day in the campus from 1pm-3pm in the afternoon and 2am-4am in the morning. The student community is most aggrieved by the power shut down from 1pm-3pm because of their peak class hours. Joymanick S. Dohling, General Secretary of the NEHUSU says that even though hospitals and institutes of higher education are exempted from the power cuts this is however not followed in the NEHU. When the Governor was informed by the student community in this regard he expressed his surprise that the MeSEB does not even spare institutes of higher education from power cuts.

According to sources, NEHU buys power from the MeSEB in bulk and there is also a provision of a special line for the university, the NEHUSU General Secretary, Joymanick Dohling says he cannot understand why the university still faces power woes. When contacted by Eastern Panorama the Dean of Students Welfare Professor R.S. Saran informed that the MeSEB had agreed in principle to supply direct and uninterrupted power to the university. Acting President of NEHUSU, Blessing R Suchiang said that the most affected are the science stream students because practical classes are held during the power shutdown. Though the university has been provided with generators there are some equipments that require more power than a generator can generate informed Blessing. When contacted the MeSEB informed that they are doing what they can 

to ensure regular supply of electricity to the university campus but in recent years, due to scanty rainfall, the water level at Barapani decreases thus the MeSEB has to resort to power cuts. 

Another grievance pointed out by the NEHUSU was the late declaration of results by NEHU. According to Joymanick S. Dohling, this has created problems for students who want to pursue further studies in other universities. He pointed out that there are cases of students missing out on a whole year due to the late declaration of results. When the students met with the Controller of Examination, Professor David Syiemlieh, he gave a verbal assurance to the union that the university is in the process of changing the process of evaluation from the present marks based system to the choice based credit system which will make the process faster. Professor Saran, the Dean Students Welfare says that 75% of the answer scripts are given outside the University for evaluation resulting in the delay. Therefore, he says it is not always in the hands of the university though they try their best to bring out the results in time. The university is rectifying this anomaly by introducing internal evaluation in the near future informed Professor Saran.  

The NEHUSU are also particularly unhappy with the non-enhancement and untimely disbursement of scholarships especially for the students of Meghalaya. The students allege that the Government of Meghalaya usually disburses their scholarships late. It is alleged that the students are usually given their scholarships in the third semester meant for the first semester and for the third semester they get the scholarship after their post graduate studies. The lackadaisical attitude of the state government has put the needy students who depend on their scholarships for their books, tuition fees, hostel fees and food in a peculiar situation. On this issue, the Dean Students Welfare, Professor Saran, countered by saying that the CSIR Fellowships, UGC Fellowships and the Rajiv Gandhi Fellowship are given on time and that the Scholarships given to the students of Meghalaya is not in the hands of North Eastern Hill University.

Another demand of the students was for the increase in the number of buses run by the university. Joymanick informed that the university has 16 buses of its own which is very less in comparison with the increasing number of students every year. These buses do not cater only to the students but also for the large number of staff of the University both teaching and non-teaching, who have to depend entirely on these buses. The union had demanded that the university should increase the number of buses and if that is not possible because of certain restrictions in the UGC norms then arrangements should be made with the Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) for buses to ply to NEHU exclusively for students.  Professor Saran says that he has been taking personal interest in this regard for the last ten years and he wants the transport department to not only include NEHU but also extend bus services to this part of the city. L. Kipgen a research scholar at the university complains that during rush hours the buses are so crowded that there is no space to even stand. Often girls are seen standing on the footboard of these buses. B. Kharsyntiew, a former student of the university says she dare not climb into these buses when it is crowded and would travel by taxi which is expensive for students even though they pay Rs. 500 per year to avail of the transport facilities.  

The union also demanded for setting up of a UGC NET examination centre for science students in Shillong due to the increase of such students. At present only the arts and commerce stream students have their centre in Shillong while the science stream students have to travel all the way to Guwahati. One of the students who had the experience of sitting in one of the examination centers in Guwahati narrated how insects and monkeys were a distraction.                

E P Desk